Heya Descendants,

Friday update!

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Lots of Love

and

Stay Safe and Sane,

-Dark-

"You've been biting at the bit for over a week." Uma rolls her eyes as she leans against the door frame and crosses her arms, "And now you don't want to let me even check the damn things?"

"All I said is that I can check them."

"Except you can't. You can't see the stitches on your back." Uma sighs, "T, it'll just be quicker if you let me do this. Because I can also just remove them, which I know is what you want." There, if that didn't catch T's attention nothing would.

T studies the glass instruments on the table as he drums his fingers on the table. "You're not wrong." He sighs. "Seriously? You'll remove them?" He asks as he brings up one hand to his arm. She couldn't miss the hope in his voice.

"And hey," Uma nods as she quickly presses her advantage, "you're in luck. Deez and Gil scampered off to the cove to work on something, and Harry's out roaming the streets. So it's just us. No interruptions, means it'll be done right and fast."

T takes a deep breath before he lets it out. He squeezes his arm, his eyes never leaving her as if he were weighing his options. "You're sure I can't just remove them on my own?"

Uma groans, "Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll get the ones on your back and side you can't, and then we'll see how you do reaching others, but, if it's an unnecessary strain, I get to take over again. No use wearing yourself out if someone is here to help."

T bites his lip.

"Besides, I need you back to fightin' form. We have a lot of work to get done. So," Uma rolls her lips as she looks away, "So, if you'll just trust me a little longer, I know we can get you back into shape."

T's eyes brighten as he lets out a resigned sigh and stands up. "Deal."

Uma smiles, "That means a lot to me." She holds her hand out, "I know I haven't shown it in the past, but I promise I'll always have your and our family's best interest at heart when I make decisions."

T tilts his head to the side, "Whale shit you haven't." He stares at her hand for a moment before he takes it, quickly shaking her hand before he drops it, "You've shown it time and time again. Your family is everything to you, even I can see that."

"But can you see that you're part of it?" Uma questions before she resumes her cross-arm lean against the door frame, "Cause in the past I know I made some choices that could have easily encouraged you to think you weren't." Her choice to pursue Deez instead of confronting T about his actions still weighed heavily on her. It didn't matter that everything had ended up working out, she knew she could have helped T avoid so much of the suffering he'd lived through. Unnecessary suffering at the hands of a deranged old man.

T's brows furrow, "Now whose being dumb? You haven't done anything but make me feel like I belong with you guys…" He steps back. "I'm," He looks around the sanctuary her, Harry, and James had put together for him, "I still don't get it, but I do see it. You guys have done so much for me over the last couple of weeks, years. How could I not?"

Uma smiles, "I'm glad. And glad my mistakes pale in comparison to what we can do for you. And what we can accomplish together." She looks around the room, "I'm assuming you'd be more comfortable getting this done in here?"

T looks to the floor sheepishly, "If you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all." Uma quickly assures him, waving off his concern as she turns to grab a small box in the hall, "In fact-" She grins as she holds it up, "I was prepared for it."

T grins as he rubs the back of his neck, "Guess I'm getting more predictable."

"No. Stop. It's not a challenge." Uma chuckles lightly, "Ya gonna invite me in?"

"Duh, it's your ship." T frowns before it morphs into a shit-eating grin, "Everything is a challenge."

"It's your room and no it's not." Uma points out as she walks in, shutting the door behind her.

"Yeah, but I never knock when I go in yours."

"Personal space is more important to you than it is to me." Uma shrugs as she kneels in the middle of the most open floor space and pats the floor in front of her.

"I'm seriously looking forward to finally being able to pull my own weight again." He lets out a sigh before he walks over. "But speaking of personal-" He scratches the back of his head. "Try not to be pissed."

Uma chuckles as she pulls cloths, bandages and a pair of freshly cleaned and sharpened scissors from the box, "I can only promise to try."

"Fair." T shrugs before he plops down in front of her crossed-legged. He takes a deep breath before he hesitantly starts peeling off the layers he was wearing only to reveal the bandages binding his chest back in place.

"Ah." Uma sighs. T was- Faustina was a girl, a pretty well-endowed girl. The fact that T had his chest bound nearly flat once more meant those bindings were on tight. Which had to hurt, but could also hinder the healing process. She sighs, "Is it really necessary?" She felt bad asking. In truth, she had no idea how to even broach the subject with T about his alternate personality. And the fact he was clearly a boy, but his body was clearly a girl. Deez had warned her that T probably couldn't give any better of an explanation anyway.

She could see the blush crawl up the back of his neck. "It makes both of us more comfortable…" He shifts in his spot.

"Well, we'll figure it out then. But I need it off for this."

T takes a deep breath, "Knew you were gonna say that." He mumbles before he sits up straighter and starts unwrapping them slowly.

"I'm good, but I have to see what I'm doing." Uma chuckles, "Sides, ain't nothing I ain't seen before." A little more than most had, but still the same.

T's head bows as he drops the bandages to the side. He pulls up his knees to cover his chest and wraps his arms around them, leaning forward so she had better access to his back.

Uma quickly gets to work, freeing T's healed skin from the tiny sutures. "You don't like talking about Faustina." She states, knowing it was true, though she hoped there was enough of a question in her tone for T to offer an explanation.

T's silent for a moment before he sighs. "I thought I was protecting my sister…She's so… She'd have been eaten alive by this place..."

Uma snorts before she slaps a hand over her lips. She closes her eyes against the irony. "Oh T, if you ever have even the slightest question, or doubt that you're a guy-" she shakes her head, "I want you to remember this conversation."

T glances behind him making eye contact for the briefest second before he looks away and drops his chin back to his knees. "I don't even know if I exist, let alone my sex…"

"Exist?" Uma huffs, "Of course you exist. We're talking, you're so different from Faustina. I don't have to understand this to know you're you and she's her. And seriously, you're acting sore and upset because you were supposed to protect her, but it sounds like the two of you protected each other. And what the fuck is wrong with that?"

T's silent for a moment. "I'm dense, but not enough to answer that."

"Good." Uma chuckles as she gets back to work, "I'd be worried if you were any denser."

"I'd probably take damage to the head better though." He teases.

Uma smiles. She'd missed this side of T, "I know you both went through hell, and I'm more than sure you held her when she needed it, but I also know she's capable of holding you when you need it." She lightly tugs the threads from T's skin, "She's a girl, and we're tougher than you boys give us credit for."

"Mhmm."

"You're getting really good at not agreeing without disagreeing." Uma sighs. That was going to be a mess later.

"I like to be well rounded."

"Uh-huh." Uma shakes her head as she pulls the last of the stitches from T's back. "Go ahead and try stretching, slowly. See how it feels."

T slowly lets go of his knees and rolls his shoulders before he leans forward to touch his boots. After a short hold, he covers his chest with one hand and leans back, "It's tight, but a fuck ton easier."

Uma sighs before she holds out the scissors by the handle, "A deal's a deal, how about you get the ones you can, and I'll take care of the rest."

T reaches over his shoulder to take the scissors. "Kay." He mumbles.

"I'm hoping this will keep you from pushing yourself too hard," Uma points out, "just in case that was hard to see."

"I know my…" He pauses. "Heard." He sighs as he takes the scissors and starts slicing through the stitches he can reach.

"I know you know your limits," She sighs before she scoots back to give T more space, "I just don't think they've ever stopped you before. But now you can lean on your family, which means you can direct that energy to better things."

T's silent for a moment. "I've leaned on you guys for years… Just not like this. I know when to stop." He chews his lip as he pulls out a black thread. "Thank you."

"Well this-" She gestures between the two of them, "Is all part of our package." She sighs. She could read between those lines. It was going to take a lot of convincing to show T that it was fine to push himself, gods knew they all did, but sometimes you had to lean on family to help. You had to conserve your energy, your fight, for better things.

They'd all learned it the hard way, apparently T was no exception. "And if you're thanking me for lettin' you care for yourself-" She shrugs, "You're welcome. I get it, T, I do. I just wish you'd look for the compromise with me."

"I-" T shuts his mouth. "I'll work on it."

"Thank you." Uma nods. She settles back against the wall, careful to appear as if she wasn't watching T like an eel, but knowing the moment T so much as grimaced she was going to jump all over him. She was the Kraken, after all.

He gets the ones from his arms without a problem, but when he gets to his sides his eye twitches.

Uma closes her eyes. She knew he couldn't reach those. She felt a little guilty for leaving them in, but she needed to break this in with T before something even more serious occurred. Because they were on the isle, and something worse always happened.

She's surprised when she opens her eyes to find T holding out the scissors to her. He lets out a resigned sigh before he looks away from the blades. Apparently, they were too much in the same direction as she was for his comfort.

Well, that happened faster than she thought it would, "Need a little help?" She asks as she takes the scissors. She couldn't resist. As much as she and T had mutual respect for each other, they also had a teasing relationship that she sorely missed.

Not that she'd admit it right now.

"I just didn't want to hear it." T mumbles

"I'll take it." Uma rolls her eyes before she scoots closer, "Not the lesson I'd like you to take from this, but fine."

"Don't have unrealistic expectations."

"Stop setting your bar so low," Uma grumbles as she gently cuts the stitches out.

"How else are you going to hop over it? Short ass..."

"You are so lucky I like you right now." Uma chuckles, "I despise short jokes."

"Yet they're never in short supply."

Uma glares as she tugs the threads from T's skin, "Okay." She falls silent as she shifts to work on T's other side, "So, this one ya popped-" She sighs, "I'll go ahead and take them out, but you're gonna have to promise me you'll remember it's a little behind on the mending."

"Heard."

"Good." Uma nods, "Get a bandage ready?" She asks before she carefully starts cutting.

"On it." He sighs before he reaches over to the box she brought and pulls out a bandage and medical tape. "Where the fuck did you find so much clean shit anyways?"

"Yensid. He apparently has an in at commissary."

"Huh…" T rests his chin on his knees as he studies the wall across from them with furrowed brows.

"So… what's with the new bandage on your arm?" Uma asks as she looks up at it. Come to think of it, wasn't that the arm T had taken to grabbing? "I noticed you didn't bother getting those stitches."

T shrugs, "Already took 'em out."

Uma narrows her eyes, "What did you do now?"

"I took care of it." His hand moves to cover it.

"You-" She takes a deep breath. They'd already done a lot today. T was clearly trying. That was the important thing. Whatever was going on with his arm was something they could work on later. It wasn't blood-soaked. And she did trust T to know his limits. He'd survived so far. She wasn't thrilled with how often that survival came with unnecessary pain, but it was the best they were going to get for now. She lets her breath out slowly, "Okay."

It's silent for a long moment as she continues cutting and tugging, "Thank you." He mumbles into his knees. "For everything."

"Of course. We're a family T. I know it's gonna take time, but this is just what we do for each other. In our own ways." She smiles as she pulls the last thread from his side, "Ya good ta slap the bandage on?"

"Yeah," T nods, "I guess..." He picks up the bandage and puts tape around the edges before he slaps it over the recovering injury.

"That's okay. You can guess while we know." Uma chuckles, "You and Deez are so stubborn about some of the smallest things."

"Tch." T snorts, "Are not."

"Oh yeah, that didn't prove my point for me." Uma snorts as she starts cleaning up the mess around T, "How do your legs feel?"

"Good." T shrugs.

Uma rolls her eyes, "They must be if you're shoving them in boots."

"Seemed safer than leaving bloody footprints around your ship."

"Safer? Safer was giving them time ta-" Uma takes another deep breath.

"I did give them time to heal."

"Not e-fucking-nough if you're leaving damn bloody-" she holds her hands up in front of her as she takes a slow breath in.

"If it helps I sanded the stairs."

In this beaten and still not fully healed state he fucking sanded her stairs. She drops her hands to her knees, grabbing what fabric she could of her pants to keep herself from strangling the kid. "T-" That sounded nice and calm, "Why do you think I'm upset over this?"

"Because I undid your work?"

"No." Uma shakes her head, "I'm upset because you're pushing yourself needlessly. You can take time to fully heal. Please, take the time to fully heal. Because I'm not going to be okay until I know you are. And you're not going to be okay until I am." She explains, accenting every important word with a stern pat on T's head, "And you are making it take longer when you reinjure yourself because you're impatient."

T opens his mouth only to shut it. "Heard."

"What did you hear?" Uma asks with another pat.

"That you're not okay, and that you think I'm pushing myself and you think I'm impatient? "

"And you're not okay until I am." Uma adds with a glare, "Meaning, no leaving the ship."

"But-"

"No!" Uma shakes her head, "Foot down T, you're not going anywhere until you're fully healed. You think you took this bad, imagine what would happen if, because you're not ah hundred percent, something else happens."

"But-"

"No."

"Uma-"

"Foot." She points to her foot as she stands, "Down." She stomps. "I ain't budging on this. You walk without bleeding and do all your T like sneaky shadow things before you can go out again. Fully healed and ready to pick fights or not at all."

"I don't pick fights-"

"Says you, but I've read the letters you show up in." A slow smile spreads across her face, "And I got told more about what happened with Atilla, you enjoy picking fights, T."

"But this is the best condition I've been in-" His eyes narrow, "Since I can remember."

"I. Don't. Care." Uma shrugs, "My family, my rules. After something that bad, you need time to get back to being a badass. So take the damn time." She rolls her eyes, "Ain't like we're going anywhere."

"But-"

"I swear to every sea god I know or has ever existed T, if you say but one more time-"

"But."

Uma narrows her eyes, "This is because that damn newt is gone."

"It's not helping, no."

"I thought I was too scary for you to pull this shit on me."

"Yeah, but now it's just you."

"Heard, I need to step up my scary, and authority, and bitchiness-"

"I mean the first one wouldn't hurt, the other two pretty sure you have down." A slow smile pulls on his lips.

"I'll work on my terror tactics." She crosses her arms over her chest.

"Heard. I'll work on my predictability and sneaking."

"And when I clear it, you can start wandering the isle again." Uma points out.

T hangs his head backward and groans, "But Uma-"

Uma growls as she invades T's space, getting right in his face as she grabs his chin, "What did I say?" She snaps commandingly.

"That I have to wait for your go-ahead to go back to the isle…"

"And what does that mean?"

"That you're scarier than the newt?"

"And?"

"Ugh…" T groans, "That you want me to wait for your go-ahead to go back to the isle."

Uma tightens her grip on T's chin, "So what are you going to do with my order?"

"Acknowledge it?"

"Obey it. Obey me." Uma growls, tired of his semantic skirting of the order, "You will wait until I give you the clear, is that understood?"

"Undeniably."

She holds T's chin, glaring into his eyes for five heartbeats before she lets him go, "You better not forget it."

"Heard."

Uma takes a deep breath before she takes a step back, "A long time ago I told you how valuable you are. I know you can't see it right now, but I'm a fucking pirate T, and I take valuable things and people. I let you go once, and I have never regretted anything more in my life. I will not make that mistake again." She averts her eyes, "But seriously, I'd rather we work together."

"That makes two of us." He frowns, "You didn't make a mistake Uma, I did. I wasn't thinking clearly-"

"Neither was I." Uma admits as she squeezes her eyes closed, "But, you were dealing with a fucking lot T. No one thinks clearly when they're dealing with that kind of fucked up shit. I saw it, I could have done something, but I didn't. So yeah, you might have made a mistake, but that doesn't mean I didn't make one as well."

"I really don't think you did." T picks up his bindings. "Your words not mine, I'm stubborn." He starts binding his chest.

"So am I." Uma shakes her head, "And again, I did. I don't care that you can't see it. I ignored my instincts. That was dangerous. And stupid. And a mistake."

T's silent as he continues wrapping his chest.

"I- I think we all made mistakes T. We all feel like something we did made the situation worse. And I don't think we're wrong. We're just lucky that we all survived the massive mistakes. We don't get to make many of those. So let's learn from the ones we survive."

"Heard." T ties off the bandage before he starts tugging on his shirts. "I don't plan on a repeat."

"Good. I don't either." Uma nods as she turns back to him, "And I think we all need to focus on making each other stronger."

T opens his mouth just to shut it before he tosses on his hoodie. "Yeah, no kidding." He mumbles as he pulls up the hood.

Uma nods again, and then sighs, "Deez is working on her swimming. Gil is working on his dislike of small spaces. I'm-" She closes her eyes, "I'm afraid of heights."

"Huh…" T turns to study her before he looks away. "Harry said we could work on getting out of cuffs and chains…" He turns and kicks the pile of chains shuddering slightly at the rattle.

Uma opens her eyes to glare at the pile, "He's gonna-" She bites her lip.

"Can't be scared of something you can get out of."

"True." Uma nods, "Just- be careful. Harry likes to pretend he's not afraid of anything, but, he has a few things he- well," She slowly shakes her head. Harry still had a problem not being in control during sex, and the few times she'd pulled his arms above his head and had Gil hold them- she sighs, "obviously he's working on one of them if he's going to do this with you."

"Huh," T frowns at the chains. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Just, giving you a heads up-" She whispers, "since I doubt he was going to."

"It must've slipped his mind." T nods as he turns back to her, "Heard."

Uma nods. She trusted T to be there for Harry, just like she trusted Harry would be there for T. She just didn't want T walking into the situation without fully understanding what would happen. "Thank you." That was not going to be fun for either of them, no matter how much bravado Harry attempted to exude.

T shrugs, "Family."

"Exactly." Uma grins, "Now I know you can listen." She chuckles, trying to shake the dark mood that had settled on her.

"Damn it." T teases.

"Too late to unsink that ship." Uma shrugs animatedly, "Guess we'll just have to keep the bar raised." She winks.

"Fucking damn it." T huffs as he kicks at nothing. "That's not what I meant. Let's go back to dropping it."

"Nope. I like it where it is." Uma waves as she turns for the door. "I'll let you get back to your, um, herbs."

"Great." T hangs his head.

All things considered, that conversation had gone a lot better than she'd expected. The stitches were out, T was caught up on the majority of the projects going on with the family, she'd been able to reinforce T's place with the family, and bonus, she let T know how much she trusted him to work with Harry and keep him from hurting himself.

She smiles. Job well done.

T blinks as the crack of a whip echoes through the hull. The sound had sent Faustina running, leaving him behind with whatever it was she was working on. He sighs and turns the burner off. He sure as hell didn't know what she was doing before she was startled-but like hell was he going to fuck with it.

Besides, he hadn't heard that particular crack in a long time. He pushes himself to his feet before he quietly pads his way to the deck.

He's not surprised when he sees Uma practicing with the whip he gave her. He looks around the deck with a frown when he finds it empty.

Huh.

He looks up at the sky. It had to be close to dawn. He waits several moments for someone to join her practice, sure no one could sleep through the cracks echoing over the ship, but when no one shows up he lifts an eyebrow. That surprised him.

He turns to head back to the bottom of the ship, passing his room. When he gets to the hold, he looks around in confusion before he sighs. He frowns before he goes to grab a lantern.

Deez was taking her job of cleaning and inventory seriously. He couldn't navigate her new layout for shit.

It takes him longer than he wants to admit, but he finally manages to find what he was looking for. He grins as he looks around, doing his best to memorize the new layout.

When he's confident, he blows out the lantern and creeps his way back to the door blindly with a smirk. Hook was going to be so annoyed.

He grins as he hangs the lantern beside the door before he takes the steps two at a time, a shit-eating grin pulling at his lips.

Even if it wasn't his, it felt great to hold a sword in his hand again.

He wasn't sure why no one else was helping her train, but he still had her words from the other day ringing in his ears. If she really wanted to work on all of them getting stronger, then he'd help her get stronger.

After all, how could she do that alone? How was she supposed to get better with no one to practice with?

With that thought in mind, he doesn't hesitate to jump in, excitement pumping through his veins. Not just for helping Uma either. For the first time in his life he'd be able to fight that stupid thing off. The thought made him beam.

"T!" Uma's eyes widen as she pulls her hand back, throwing off her balance as the whip snaps against the mast on her backswing, "What the fuck!?"

"What?" T lifts a brow. "It's easier to practice with someone else."

"I can barely hit my non-moving targets." Uma rolls her eyes before she points out the knives stuck in the wood around the deck.

"So?" T shrugs, "Bet you'll get better quicker with someone on the offense." He rolls his shoulder. "Come on, it'll be fun."

Uma frowns, "You think me aiming a whip at you will be fun? For who?"

"Me? And, well yeah." It had been ages since the last time he sparred. It would do him some good getting in a dodging practice if nothing else. He twists the training blade in his hand.

"You seriously want to spar with me?" Uma grimaces as she coils the whip into her hand.

"Fuck yeah I do."

Uma bites her bottom lip as she looks around the ship, "I don't want to-" she whispers as she continues to look around, "I don't-"

"So help me if you say hurt me." T glares playfully.

"-want to fuck up-" Her eyes harden, "-and take your eye out or something."

"Tch," T waves her off, "You worry too much. Besides if I can't block it, that's on me. And, I can point out what you're doing wrong. It's a win-win for both of us."

"I'm the Captain, it's my job to worry." Uma glares, "And if you're gonna block, I want you holding a shield."

"Why? I don't use shields- I use daggers and swords."

"Because I said so." Uma snaps, "Until I'm more confident, I'd rather you have a shield. Then, if you're still willing to spar with me, we'll use our preferred combat methods."

Dumb. He kicks at nothing, "Fine." He rolls his eyes before he drops the sword, letting the wood clatter to the ground. "I'll be back." He turns to the hold.

Harry furrows his brow before he sits up, wondering why he was cold.

"You guys always want me to join when you practice swords," He hears Deez from somewhere across the room, "why is it different with a whip?"

"Because you have more control with a sword. Whips are unruly." Gil explains with a frown. "You can pull back a swing, but not a crack."

"What ya two be ah worryin' 'bout afore breakfast?" Harry grumbles, wishing he hadn't been the last to wake up. When the others were still in bed he had a chance to get attention. He whines as he crawls out of the bed to collect his jacket.

"Someone's fighting Uma." Gil sighs, not taking his eyes away from the cracked door. "Two guesses as to who."

"But you'll only need one." Deez chuckles as she shakes her head. "Come on." She pulls the door open wider and slips under Gil.

"Oi!" Harry races to throw on his jacket, "Be ah waitin' for me."

"Then hurry up." Gil rushes him, "I want to watch this."

Harry glowers but follows the two from their room. Of course it was T fighting Uma and her whip. Because why not? He rolls his eyes.

"I think you need to aim a little bit more to the left next time," T calls out after he deflects the whip with the worn blade as he jumps out of the way. "But that swing had more power behind it." He adds encouragingly.

"To the left huh?" Uma furrows her brow as she resets her whip, "Not lower?"

T narrows his eyes before he shrugs. "Not from where I'm dodging but might be different from your end. Where you know, you're not hitting shit."

"Hahaha-" Uma glares before she begins moving her arm and wrist, making the whip dance across the deck and in the air in front of her, "Ready fucker?"

"I mean, are you?" T grips the sword in one hand and the shield with the other, his devil may care grin back on his lips for the first time in months.

Uma adjusts her stance and rolls her shoulder forward, letting the momentum carry the rest of that side of her body before she snaps down with her arm and back with her wrist.

"Come on Umes, are you even trying?"

"Oh shut up," Uma growls.

"Oh no." Deez shakes her head.

"Seriously?" Gil facepalms.

Harry furrows his brow as he continues to watch Uma and T, but he reaches out for Deez, "And what ya be ah oh noin' there?"

"I think I felt a little wind that time."

"Fuck you T!"

"Seriously? You don't see what T's doing?" Deez questions as she turns to face Harry and Gil.

"She's a little too busy sucking at the moment." T grins at her.

Uma glares as she adjusts her stance and snaps the whip at T again.

Harry frowns, "Bein' stupid enough ta be ah volunteering ta be ah whippin' boy?"

"Yeah… I thought this would be fun, but I don't want to join a war of escalation. With T nobody wins, not even T." She sticks her tongue out at him. "And Uma's stubborn."

"So I noticed." T shoots Deez a shit-eating grin after avoiding another attack. "And beg to differ."

Uma grins as she flicks another attack, "Is that what you've been doing?" She pumps her free hand when the whip grazes the shield.

"Well, I certainly haven't been gettin' hit."

"Oh fuck you." Uma glares again before she throws her arm, sending the tip of the whip to crack around T's sword.

"Fucking nice!" T shoots her a shit-eating grin.

"Hells yeah!" Uma whoops as she jumps before she pulls her arm back, tugging the old blade out of T's hand.

"UMA!" Harry shouts sternly, his heart in his throat as time seems to slow down.

Uma drops to the deck at the warning as the sword ricochets back in her direction. It clangs to the ground behind her.

A giddy laugh escapes her lips as she jumps up to her feet.

"Fuck yeah!" T gives her another shit-eating grin.

"I fucking did it!" Uma jumps up and down excitedly.

"Yeah ya did!" T laughs as he throws an arm around Uma's shoulder, laughing like he hadn't in weeks. "Because you're a boss ass scary fucking Kraken!"

"Uma!" Harry and Gil rush forward, half dragging Deez with them.

Uma turns to the rest of her family, eyes brimming with excitement, "Did you guys see that! I disarmed a sword."

"That was actually really cool." Deez smiles as she hugs Uma.

"Wasn't it?" T bounces on his feet. "Let's see if she can go two for two."

"I'll play," Deez offers excitedly before she glares at T, "as long as you stop poking her."

"Sorry D, that ain't happening." T drops a hand to her head and ruffles her hair, with bright eyes. "But you should join us anyways."

Deez purses her lips as she looks T over, "I guess it would be good practice." She shrugs as she smiles, unable to look away from him.

Harry frowns. T was fresh out of stitches, Uma had nearly impaled herself with that cocky disarm, and now Deez wanted to join. He groans as he drags a hand down his face. Still, he had to admit it felt good to see T bouncing around and grinning ear to ear.

Didn't make him any more okay with what almost happened. He turns to Gil. The frown on his lips told him they were having similar thoughts.

"It'd be good practice for all of us." T grins. "Think about it as endurance and evasive maneuvering, while Uma works on her shit aim."

"My aim is getting better." Uma glares.

"One disarm and she's suddenly cocky." T teases.

Deez groans as she looks between the two.

Gil glowers as he pulls Deez under his arm protectively. "Or we could watch from the crow's nest."

Harry nods in agreement. He liked that plan. Two fewer people to worry about.

"C'mon," T laughs, "Where's the fun in that? She can take it. It's not like it's gonna hurt her-" He pauses as a frown pulls at his lips. "Physically."

"Come on Gil, I break swords." Deez pouts up at him, blinking her blue eyes at him.

Harry shakes his head, unable to help the smirk on his lips. Way to use his signature move.

Gil narrows his eyes at T. "That was an odd way to phrase that."

T frowns as he looks between Uma and Deez, "Maybe they're right, Princess. You should probably sit this one out." He sighs, "Cap'n is just gettin' this shit down. If you spaz she's never picking that up again." He rubs the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.

Uma tilts her head to the side before she looks down at the whip in her hand, "Oh."

"Aye, Ya two can be ah joinin' practice later when we be ah workin' with swords." He pats Gil on the back supportively, "Be ah good girl and be climbin' up now."

Deez frowns, but nods as she turns to the ladder on the mast.

Gil lets out a sigh of relief before he follows her.

Harry watches them until they climb into the nest, then drops his eyes back to Uma and T, "So, I be ah grabbin' me ah trainin' sword an' shield then?" He looks Uma over, "So long as ya be ah 'memberin' the enemy don'nah be needin' ta hurt ya if ya be ah killin' yerself with their weapon."

Uma rolls her eyes, "I know that." She lifts her head higher, "I think I figured out how to fix that so it doesn't fly back at me like that."

"Want to try now?" T offers excitedly. "While the action is fresh."

Harry furrows his brow as he looks between the two, "I be ah gettin' ya ah shield too then?" he looks pointedly at Uma.

"I guess that would probably be a good idea."

"Except we only have two shields." T points out, "I didn't think you'd need one cause you block with your hook. I wasn't expectin' us to use them for this. I'd rather not though if you two want to use them."

"I can be dodgin' without." Harry quickly corrects, "You an Uma can be ah usin' 'em."

T rolls his eyes, "Lame. I need to work on my speed more than you do."

Harry groans, "Can ya just be ah givin' me ah few more days afore ya start bein' so reckless again?"

"I mean, honest answer?"

"The only answer I be ah lookin' for is 'yes'." Harry glares, "An' it better be yer honest answer."

"Well, you can't get both." T's eyes nearly glowing with amusement.

Harry narrows his eyes as he pulls his hook out, "Oh, I think I can be ah gettin' both."

"Harry!" Uma snaps.

"You heard her, now stop avoidin' gettin' your ass handed to you and move."

"Ya be ah fuckin' shit mate." Harry glares before he looks to Uma, "Ya be ah swearin' ya be careful with that move?"

"Aye Harry, I'll be careful," Uma promises.

"Can't be careful without practice, though." T clucks his tongue.

Harry nods. He knew it was true, he just wished Uma wasn't so taken with that damned whip. He wanted to run and grab himself a shield, but if Uma wasn't going to use it to block the sword when she managed to disarm them, then he felt trapped into not using one either. Besides, he knew that eventually Gil and Deez were going to have to join this, and he'd rather let the two of them have the shields when that happened. But fuck, he really didn't want to get hit. He wasn't even sure what had T beaming like an idiot over the whole thing.

Uma furrows her brow as she watches him, "You don't have to help if you don't want to, Pretty Boy."

"Aye, but I be ah wantin' ta," Harry admits after a deep breath. "So-" he pulls his sword free from his belt, "Let's be ah doin' this."

"Took you long enough Hook." T cracks his neck, "Let's fuckin' do this shit." He beams again. "Try ta keep up Hook."

"Aye." Harry rolls his eyes, "I think ya be ah meanin' be better since she be ah landin' hits on ya."

Uma grins as she backs away from the two.

Harry takes a deep breath as he crouches into a defensive stance, silently praying to any sea god that might be listening that he could quickly learn to block a whip with his sword and hook.

"I'm glad Uma said you could come to the cove with us." Deez smiles, managing to sit up relatively straight beside Gil as Harry rowed the dingy, though she couldn't stop her death grip on Gil's hand every time they rocked against a wave, "We've been waiting for a good time to ask you two to test Uma's blade out, and after seein' ya dodge the whip so many times." She shrugs. If T could manage that, she felt confident he was strong enough to test the sword.

'Wouldn't have had to dodge so much if Hook was faster." T grins, "And that makes two of us."

"We ain'nah playin' that game right now." Harry glares.

Gil chuckles as he squeezes Deez's hand. "Can he stop himself though?"

"Not T." Deez chuckles, grateful for Gil's addition to her distraction from the rougher than usual waves. Or maybe it was how it always was and she was just noticing it for the first time.

"Not my fault he's so touchy." T snickers. "'Sides, told ya you shoulda been the one with the shield."

"I guess we both ain'nah gonna be havin' ah shield next time." Harry sticks his tongue out, unable to do more than that with his hands occupied.

Gil shakes his head, but the smile doesn't leave his lips.

"At least we're almost there." Deez sighs in relief as the cove comes into view.

"Yeah no kiddin'" T grins, "I'm excited to see how Uma's blade turned out, and check out this pool of yours."

"It's pretty amazing." Gil grins as he drops his eyes to her. "I know we said it already, but it's awesome that it heats up. Maybe we can swim after we see if Uma's blade will hold, it'll probably be good for your muscles, T."

"Sounds like a good idea." Deez smiles. After all the work Gil had been putting into facing his fear, getting back in the water with him seemed easier. "I'm so excited for you to see the sword T." She fidgets excitedly before she remembers where she is and shrinks against Gil's side, "It turned out even better than the sketches he did."

"Fuckin' nice," T nods at Gil, "Those were already pretty boss. Did you seriously get the tentacles down?"

"Deez made the guard," Gil admits sheepishly. "I hit the metal too hard."

"Well, once we learned that I could roll the metal like glass things got a lot easier." Deez quickly adds as she nuzzles into Gil's side.

T snorts, "You can turn rock into lava, of course you can fuckin' roll metal, spaz."

"I didn't think it would work because swords have to be tempered, we never thought about the guard not needing to be fully tempered." Deez admits with a blush, "Still, Gil's the real artist. My hands can just stand higher temperatures."

T chuckles, "Either way it's fuckin' boss. I'm sure it's gonna look badass as fuck."

Gil grins as he watches Harry and T fight, his chest swelling with a sense of pride. He knew it would be for the best to wait for T to see if Uma's blade measured up. It just didn't seem fair to T to present Uma with the blade before he woke up. After all, they wouldn't be able to test swords if it weren't for T coming up with Book Club.

But he'd never forget the look of absolute pride and admiration on T's face when he actually saw it. Never forget the words of praise T had sung about how far he'd come.

How far he and Deez had both come since the start of their little club.

He handed over the newly forged blade to T hesitantly, afraid it would bring up bad memories, or be a reminder of what he lost during that time.

So when T's eyes became glassy and he fell silent, no one knew what to say. He was just glad he had Deez to hold on to, or he wouldn't have been able to stand it.

It was only when T wiped away the tears and thanked them, in the smallest voice he'd ever heard T use, that he felt his chest swell. Clearly, they had all underestimated the loss of T's sword. Had underestimated how much it's absence affected T.

As far as he knew, the other boy hadn't mentioned it once.

It was a great feeling to repay T, if only in a small way for all the things he'd done for them, for him, over the years. Even if it was as simple as reforging his blade. It was probably the first time someone else could surprise him with something thoughtful. It warmed his bones that the blade had taken the other boy so off guard.

T had surprised them all this morning when he jumped in to train with Uma. He was barely healed and already back to helping them. Not once since T gave Uma that whip had he thought to offer to help her train with it. No one had.

Except for T. His grin widens as Harry and T jump back from each other after clashing the two blades together. He hadn't realized it until this morning, but he missed the way they bantered.

He knew that what happened to T had affected him on a level hopefully none of them would ever understand. So to see him acting like himself, both this morning and again right now, had him beside himself with joy. As if the last few weeks- months- hadn't happened. He honestly thought he'd never see the spark in T's eyes again.

He squeezes Deez closer to his side, looking down to find her watching the fight with brighter eyes than she'd had for weeks. It made him feel better that he wasn't the only one that had shared in that particular fear.

After all that. After everything that had happened, and there was so much he was still in the dark about, he wasn't sure he'd ever see T like this again.

Moving.

Teasing.

Laughing.

Happy.

"C'mon Hook, are you even trying?"

"Ya be ah listenin' here mate." Harry glares, "Ya be rusty and ya be ah knowin' it, the four o' us be ah knowin' it. So be gettin' yer motions down again and then we can be ah fightin' full force."

"Oh shut it," T scoffs, "Jay woulda gone full tilt."

"Aye," Harry winces, but quickly covers it with a sneer, "but he ain'nah testin' ah blade for Uma, and wantin' ta avoid gettin' first blood as be the Cap'n's right with this beauty."

Gil laughs when T takes the opening after the shot.

Harry chuckles and blocks, the swords singing as the metals scrape when the two back away again, "That were ah good one."

"Told ya." T smirks from under his hood.

"Aye, an' all it be ah takin' were the proper push."

Gil grins as he turns back to Deez, "I've missed this."

"The sound of sword fighting or the ridiculous bantering?" She asks in a huff as she crosses her arms over her chest. But she couldn't hide the smile or the way her eyes never left T.

"All of it." Gil squeezes her to his side again.

Deez sighs before she wraps an arm around his waist and leans against him, "I guess I did too, if I'm being honest."

Gil chuckles, happy Uma let T leave the ship to come here. "Knew you had it in you."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." She rolls her eyes before she tilts her head, "But, it does feel like a success. The blades clearly aren't going to shatter." She looks up at him, "You did it."

"We did it." He corrects her. "We wouldn't have gotten this far without you."

Deez blushes as her gaze lowers, "We make a good team."

"Yeah, we do."

"So," She clears her throat before she shakes her thumb in the direction of the swords clashing, "you wanna tell them to stop while I go heat the water for us?"

"Sounds like a plan." He grins down at her, curious if T would even want to join them.

"Good luck getting Uma's sword back." Deez teases before she skips off towards the pool.

Gil smiles as he watches her back. It had taken both of them longer than he'd expected to come around, but they'd done it. They were finally a family, all they were missing was their oath and marks. He looks down at the scar on his palm with a smile as he traces his fingers over the faint compass. They were going to be theirs once and for all.

Nothing could have made him happier.

Yo,

That first scene had me cracking up, despite the heavy tones. Was there a particular comment or quip that made you snort and/or laugh?

Was anyone surprised when T just handed Uma the scissors? Uma certainly was.

LoLz Uma circumventing T's semantics.

Isn't it refreshing to see flashes of T through his self-loathing?

And see! You guys should be happy, if it wasn't for her self control Uma would've strangled the fuck out of T. Sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping for an actual strangling. Still, overall this was a great scene to write and we hope it was just as great to read.

Oh, Uma and T, how much I love their interactions.

Was anyone guessing that's what T was going to do when he heard that crack? Our favorite adrenaline junkie is back. LoL

Uma was pretty much flabbergasted that he would even offer, but at the end of the day, no one else was jumping to help her practice with such an unruly weapon. Was anyone surprised when she agreed to the spar?

And T's pouting at the end because he needed to use a sheild- Priceless

That third scene was fucking gold- Ya know, in my humble opinion... What did you guys think? Did it at least make Bronze?

Uma and T banter is so much fun to write, especially when they're both in good moods. Did you guys enjoy seeing more glimpses of old T? Do you have a favorite line?

LoLz, Uma almost impaling herself with a flick of her wrist. Looks like T isn't the only adrenaline junkie in this family.

If any of you were confused about why Uma and T were worried about the whip and letting Deez join- It's for the same reason T gave the whip to her in the first place. It's like a tentacle, and Deez getting wrapped up is no Bueno.

And then Harry joined in on the banter ;) Three-way quips for the win!

The banter between the four of them in that forth scene was just so on point. Sassy characters are the best characters. Agree to disagree, of course, either way, you should let us know ;)

As T's main, it was so wonderful to write him like this again. Adrenaline is pretty much serotonin for him and he's riding that high for all it's worth. What did you guys think?

Okay... So maybe this whole chapter may have been a little fluffy.

It was so nice to be able to write Gil so confident. He spent a lot of fucking time on making those swords, and it paid off. I'm sure you guys are biting at that bit to know what that sword looks like, and we promise, it's soon. Are you excited?

Harry and T's quips were cute, but nothing beats the adorable teasing between Gil and Deez. Baby Girl made an excellent point when they said they made a good team. What do you think?

Think T's getting in that pool?

We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Please drop them in that box.

Much love and appreciation

-Twisted

Covid Corner

Yep... Still in Quarantine. And sorry for those of you not, but I'm still kinda enjoying the shit outta not having to leave my house since it means more writing. But fuck man, this whole Virus shit needs to be salted and burned. And the fact that some states are starting to lift bans legit worries the fuck outta me. So please just stay safe.